John Brockman, publisher and editor of Edge.org and founder of the “third culture” group of intellectuals and technologists, has once again asked some of the most brilliant and well-known scientists and thinkers around for their response to his annual question.  Here is the text of this years invitation and question:

While conventional wisdom tells us that things are bad and getting worse, scientists and the science-minded among us see good news in the coming years. That’s the bottom line of an outburst of high-powered optimism gathered from the world-class scientists and thinkers who frequent the pages of Edge, in an ongoing conversation among third culture thinkers (i.e., those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectual in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are.)
The 2007 Edge Question marks the 10th anniversary of Edge, which began in December, 1996 as an email to about fifty people. In 2006, Edge had more than five million individual user sessions.

I am pleased to present the 2007 Edge Question:

What Are You Optimistic About? Why?

The 160 responses to this year’s Edge Question span topics such as string theory, intelligence, population growth, cancer, climate and much much more. Contributing their optimistic visions are a who’s who of interesting and important world-class thinkers.

Got optimism? Welcome to the conversation!

The responses from the major members of Edge are as interesting as they are varied.  Some, like philosopher Daniel Dennett,  psychologist and skeptic Michael Shermer,  journalist and author Andrew Brown, and Richard Dawkins spoke of the rise in widespread rationality and the possible decline of religion.  Many others spoke about science education and Enlightenment or neo-Enlightenment values taking further hold with the public, that our civilization will be able to survive the coming climate catastrophe, and that we will be able to further understand our world and ourselves better.  Others turned the question around or said (William Provine) “things could always get worse”.  While these short responses and other writings and conversation on the Edge website certainly reflect some of the personal interests and biases of the scientists themselves, Edge, and especially the annual World Question Center question is a great place for the general public to go to get an idea of what leading thinkers are thinking about, where science and technology are heading, and even get some ideas about what we can be optimistic about.

So, echoing Brockman, what are you optimistic about?

I am optimistic, partly because I have to be, about the possibility of participatory, deliberative democracy and economics in the future.  I hope to see, and spend my life working towards, a world in which regular people, including the poorest and most destitute have the knowledge, encouragement, and will to work together to make their lives collectively better through fairness, peace, brotherly love, and human rights.  That is pretty optimistic, I guess.  Notice, however, that I said I am optimistic about the ‘possibility’ of such a thing, not the inevitability.

- Peter Broady